EXCLUSIVE: Vienna-based sales agency Square Eyes has acquired international sales rights for Belgian director Isabelle Tollenaere’s displacement drama Paris Paris ahead of its premiere in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Proxima sidebar in July.
The drama follows three men from China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Palestine living together in a squatted apartment in a seemingly abandoned building in Paris.
The group is bound together by their shared experience of life in exile and the fleeting nature of their possessions, relationships, and sense of home, but the temporary safe space is threatened by outside forces and events.
A first feature for Tollenaere, Paris Paris follows several short films exploring the interplay between shifting living spaces and the human sense of self, time and memory.
“After collaborating on Isabelle’s first crossover fiction short film, stepping into her first feature felt like a natural next chapter,” said producers Bo de Group and Hans Everaert at Antwerp-based Menuetto Film, referring to Tollenaere’s California City-shot 2022 short film The Fruit Tree.
“Beyond the creative journey, this film carries a message that feels deeply relevant today: friendship and human connection don’t recognize borders. The world is changing rapidly, but our ability to connect with one another, without judgment, remains one of the purest things we have. Bringing that message to life, both on screen and behind the scenes, through the collaboration of people from so many different backgrounds and countries, is what makes filmmaking truly meaningful,” they added.
Square Eyes, which has recently handled titles such as Berlinale Panorama title London and Locarno-selected Desire Lines, previously worked with the director and producer on The Fruit Tree.
“”We are proud to continue our collaboration with Isabelle’s debut fiction feature Paris Paris, after having represented The Fruit Tree. We fell in love with the three characters we got introduced to, and with how playful and full of warmth the film is,” said Square Eyes.
